


Solace

by Bizarra



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Kinda Fluffy, Kinda Peaceful, fly on the wall, kinda sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:33:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bizarra/pseuds/Bizarra
Summary: Tom Paris and Phoebe Janeway take a walk to catch up, and come upon a certain couple just taking time out for peaceful contemplation.
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway
Comments: 30
Kudos: 113





	Solace

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Torri012](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torri012/gifts).



> This is another story based on a Manip. This manip was made by Torri012. It jumped out at me and needed to be surrounded by words. :)
> 
> This will probably be my last quarantine fic, as I start back to work in 2 days. (*cries in Floridian*)
> 
> However, I have noticed that this is story 49! Which means, I should work on something special for the 50th story! Hmm, I have so many WIPS, which will it be?
> 
> Thank you to all of our manippers in the JC community. You guys are amazing and have really helped keep my muse going, especially through this quarantine. Love to you all!

Based on this Manip by: Torri012  


The birds were chirping merrily in the warm sunshine as Phoebe Janeway walked along the hillside with Tom Paris. They’d just wandered away from the crew picnic for a breather. And maybe to catch up a little. The Paris’s were old family friends of the Janeway’s and the kids had mostly grown up in close proximity. Tom was the baby of the group; his sisters were closer in age to she and Kathryn so it was they who the Janeway girls had mostly known.

“So what was Katie like out there?” Phoebe asked, her blue eyes questioning.

“She kept us alive. She was the perfect captain.” Tom shrugged, his tone giving away that he knew exactly what she was asking, but evading the question. He glanced down and stepped over a small rock, kicking it gently away.

Phoebe shoved her dark auburn curls from her brow and shielded her face with a hand. “You know exactly what I’m asking, Tommy Paris.” She grabbed his arm and stopped his forward motion, causing him to turn toward her. “How _was_ she?” 

He huffed an impatient breath, “There were good days and bad days, Phoebe. It’s not really my place to say.” He gestured, “you should ask her.”

The younger Janeway sibling sighed and turned to face the distant lake, sun glinting off its surface. “She won’t tell me.” Phoebe angled to look back at the tall man standing next to her.

“Well, have you tried asking her?” Tom queried.

“Huh,” the woman huffed in frustration as she started walking. “You know what she’s like. She wouldn’t talk to a tree if it spoke to her.”

“She talked to Voyager.” Tom tossed out.

Phoebe rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively before increasing her speed.

When she crested the hill, she stopped so suddenly that her companion slammed into her and nearly knocked her down. “Ow!” She whispered and reached back, “shh!” She backed up and lowered to avoid being seen by the couple she’d just discovered.

She pulled Tom down, “I thought you said they didn’t have that kind of relationship?” Phoebe watched as her sister and her former first officer sat on the hillside. Kathryn was sitting between his legs and leaning back against his chest, arms propped on his thighs, while his arms were loosely draped around her midsection. They were clearly talking about something. Every so often, Kathryn would lightly laugh.

Tom settled next to her and watched for a moment. He smiled. “They didn’t have _that_ kind of relationship.” He pointed to them, “they had that kind of relationship.” He quickly pulled out a small holo-imager and took a photo.

Phoebe turned to him and gave him a look. She gestured towards the couple, “what is the difference?”

“The difference is…” Tom hesitated, as he watched the pair, “I sat in front of them for seven years. Whether or not they’d own up to it, I heard every conversation they had, whispered or otherwise. They weren’t as quiet as they thought they were.” he grinned. He crouched lower, “they couldn’t have the kind of relationship that B’Elanna and I could, and did, out there, even if they wanted.” He nodded his head toward his two commanding officers, “and I believe they wanted it.”

“But why couldn’t they, Tom?” Phoebe asked, “they had a right to a life too.”

“C’mon, Pheeb, think about it.” Tom chided softly, “The fact was, we were out there because Starfleet sent us to arrest him.” He shook his head, “If they’d been so inclined, they could have court martialled her for favoritism.”

“Oh,” Phoebe slightly inclined her head, “I didn’t think about that.” She leaned slightly closer. “They didn’t though; all the Maquis were pardoned.”

“Because the Captain stayed neutral.” 

“I’m sure she could have relied on witnesses from the other crew.” Phoebe bit her lip as she watched the couple in question for a moment. “It’s not fair. She deserved to be happy too.”

“She was, Phoebe.” He batted at a buzzing fly, “We had a lot of good days. Sure, sometimes it felt like the bad days outnumbered the good, but she got us home, because she was singularly focused on that mission.”

Her brows furrowed, “Katie could still get Voyager home and have a relationship. Dad had us when he was still a Captain.”

He propped himself on his elbows and spoke with his hands, “Think about this; put yourself in her place. You’ve got a crew you need to get home, you don’t have the backing of Starfleet, or anyone outside the ship itself.” Noting her husband, he added, “Michael is your first officer.” He turned slightly, balancing on his arm, “feeling about him the way you do, could you send him on an away team, that could turn deadly? If you make the call to abandon ship, could he leave you behind?”

“I see what you mean.” She looked back at the couple, now quietly watching the surrounding land and wrapped in each other’s arms. Every so often Chakotay would lean and press a kiss atop Kathryn’s head. “Life can be cruel sometimes.”

“Why?” Tom asked, propping his head on his hand. He glanced again to his former commanding officers, “they had each other out there. It may not have been a grand love affair, and there were moments when I swear they were gonna airlock each other, but they were close friends. It might have gotten a little muddy there toward the end, but I don’t think that will ever change.”

“And they never had sex out there?” Phoebe gestured again, “because that man is a treat to be savored.” 

Tom laughed at that, “No.” He hesitated, made a face, then added, “Well, maybe once. But for them it wasn’t necessary.” He again regarded the pair, then after a moment’s silence added. “You know what I see when I look at them?”

The younger Janeway shook her head.

“I see two people who made the impossible possible. They looked at a seventy-year journey home and said hell no. We’ll get home as fast as possible, even if it means putting our own lives on hold for the good of the crew.” The fly made a return as Tom swatted it away again. “I see two people who have formed a bond so unbreakable that even when it broke, they still found their way back to each other.” He glanced back at his companion, “you know how your mom still talks to your dad, even after he’s gone? And how my grandfather died ten minutes after my grandmother did?” He paused, waiting for her hum of acknowledgement. He then nodded his head back to Kathryn and Chakotay, “that’s what I mean when I say,” he points to the two who were simply resting while absently tracing each other’s hands, “ _that’s_ the kind of relationship they have.”

“Oh.” Phoebe turned to the couple again and watched, truly seeing them for the first time. She felt her eyes tear up. “Oh.” She glanced at Tom then huffed a laugh to hide the sentimentality of the moment, “well, now I’m jealous.” She backed away a little further and beckoned for Tom to follow. “I’m also really happy that she’s found someone, after all the shit she’s been through.”

Phoebe folded to a crouch, then stood once they would be out of site. “C’mon. Let’s leave them to their solace.”

Tom nodded and followed. He gave the holo-imager a pat, “I’m going to print and frame this picture I took. I think it will be a good wedding gift.”

They began the walk back to the picnic. “Jumping to conclusions?” Phoebe asked with a snicker.

Tom shook his head as he followed the pace of their walk. “Nah. Thinking ahead.”


End file.
